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Original poster

12 week old always wakes up at 5!!

50 replies

Newmamauk1988 · 21/03/2016 12:43

Hi lovely mama's

My DS is doing great and his sleeping has really come along way, but I had a question to any mums that had/are having a similar situation as me.
I put him to bed at 7, dream feed about 11-11:30 and he sleeps until 5- but is ready for the day at 5.
I must admit it's been gradual to get him to go through until 5 so I'm hoping that the 5am start will gradually make it to at least 6!
Any advice/tips would be awesome Smile

OP posts:
redskytonight · 21/03/2016 12:46

Not a lot you can do with children's sleep patterns (bitter experience).
That's actually pretty good sleeping for a 12 week old.
He may gradually move to a later wake up or he may not.

I think my experience will only depress you, so I won't share it :)

PotteringAlong · 21/03/2016 12:47

Get used to it! My 4 year old wakes for the day at 5!

JennyOnAPlate · 21/03/2016 12:48

My 8 year old still regularly wakes for the day at 5....

Some children are just naturally early risers I'm afraid! You may well find that yours changes as he gets older though.

lornathewizzard · 21/03/2016 12:50

Can you treat it like a night feed and see if he will go back down after?

gunting · 21/03/2016 12:52

My 20 week old has done this every night since he was born. I'm used to it now it's just the time we get up.

HereIAm20 · 21/03/2016 12:53

Good luck - we had 5 am with my oldest until he was about 5 years! Now he comes home at 5 am! On the plus side (bearing in my mind it was in the days of VHS i know ALL the words to the LIon King and The Fox and the Hound!) Although he wouldn't go back to sleep as a 2 year old he would cuddle up to watch these 2 videos over and over and over ....

captainproton · 21/03/2016 12:55

My eldest 2 will come bounding into our room anywhere between 5-5.30. "mum! It's morning, get up!"

It's probably going to be this way until they go through puberty and you have to drag them out of bed.

Busybuzzybumblebee · 21/03/2016 12:56

My 2 year old ds gas always been an early riser, only recently he's started sleeping till seven which is only because he's stopped his afternoon naps, which isn't helpful for you. I found no matter what time he went to bed it was always 5am wake up

Xmasbaby11 · 21/03/2016 12:56

Sounds normal! In fact he is a very good sleeper for his age.

Oysterbabe · 21/03/2016 12:57

My 12 week old wakes at 12, 2, 4 and 5:30.

Allyoucaneat · 21/03/2016 12:58

My first son woke at everyday 5am for 18months.

My second son woke every hour of the night for nearly 18 months. He only just started sleeping in last fortnight. I would take the 5am wake up call anyday!!

Pollyputhtekettleon · 21/03/2016 13:01

That sounds great for this stage. It will get better, don't worry.

My 15 week old wakes at 5 every morning but she also wakes at 10pm, midnight, 3am, 4am, 4.30 and 5am.

She's my third though and ds and dd1 both were like your baby at that stage. You are pretty lucky!

8angle · 21/03/2016 13:01

My DS did this and i came on MN to get some advice but when i looked at all the absolute horror stories a lot of people had I was too embarrassed to post Blush.

We just kept doing the same routine and by the time he got to 10 months he was sleeping through till 7, I have no idea if this will get better or worse from now for him. Some people say once they start eating solids they sleep better Confused not sure myself!

I think a solid block of uninterrupted sleep is good and better than a lot, and the early mornings should get better over time! good luck!

StarlingMurmuration · 21/03/2016 13:03

My 16 month old still wakes before 6am every day, unless he's ill. Before 5am on a bad day. If you find a way to make your baby sleep late, bottle it and sell it, you'll make a fortune.

Pollyputhtekettleon · 21/03/2016 13:03

Oh and my eldest 2 (who are 1 and just gone 3) sleep beautifully through to 7 at the earliest every night since 9mts (ds) and 6mts (dd). So I would expect your baby to stretch to later as time passes.

irregularegular · 21/03/2016 13:05

Lucky you!
I don't know of many babies who have slept so well at 12 weeks.

Happyinthehills · 21/03/2016 13:07

Are you on summer time yet?
If not, it should be straightforward to shift everything to one hour later, then accept you wake at 6?

imip · 21/03/2016 13:07

Yes, this is brilliant for 12 weeks. All mine (4dcs) did not have such good sleeping habits til at least 12 months. Except for dd3, who was like this until 3 yo....

cosmickitten · 21/03/2016 13:08

It's totally normal and nothing to worry about. On the plus side 5 am will become 6 am next when the clocks change

Allnamesaretakenffs · 21/03/2016 13:27

My almost 3 year old woke for the day at 4am (4.30am if I was super lucky) every day since he was born. He woke every 2 hours up until 8 months old, and even now still wakes twice a night with night terrors. Though, he's up for the day at around 5, 5.30am so that's a lie-in for us!

WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 21/03/2016 13:31

Is it the daylight waking him?

Blackout curtains...?

Heating coming on? Noise disturbing him?

Otherwise, he has just had enough sleep

rallytog1 · 21/03/2016 13:32

Agree with pps - try to shift everything a bit later so you can have a later wake up. Or, just put the baby back down after the 5am feed - he might just lie there happily and eventually go back to sleep.

But honestly, you're lucky he is sleeping so well already. Lots of us can only dream of getting the uninterrupted stretches that you're having!

RupertPupkin · 21/03/2016 13:40

That sounds amazing to me - both of mine were waking up at 2am as well at that age. He will grow out of it in time. Just bask in the smug satisfaction that very few people with a 12 week old are getting as much sleep as you - really!

Diddlydokey · 21/03/2016 13:46

Is he cold? This is often the coldest part of the night after the heating has been off.

Nappy too wet

Going to bed too early - some kids never sleep 12 hours at night, 10 may be all he needs. Mine didn't do 12 until very recently, he's nearly 4 and always went to bed from 8-7 rather than 7-6.

Is his first nap too early? DS slept later on in the morning if his first nap of the day was a bit later.

There are some things you can change, just to rule things out.

Moomintroll85 · 21/03/2016 14:00

Sounds like he's sleeping really well for his age. My DS had a phase of waking up at 4:30 or 5am for the day from about 7 months old. I tried everything from changing daytime naps, later tea, later to bed, pretending it was still nighttime and putting him back to bed, bringing him into bed with me, etc, nothing worked, he still woke at that offensive hour. After a long while he just stopped doing it of his own accord.